Jules Bianchi Manages Amazing Grand Chelem

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	62	Jules Bianchi		2:05.372
2	29	Pastor Maldonado		2:05.640
3	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		2:05.968
4	30	Dean Stoneman		2:06.094
5	34	Valtteri Bottas		2:06.338
6	1	Sebastian Vettel		2:05.224*
7	33	Einar Ármannsson		2:06.431
8	24	Kevin Magnussen		2:06.803
9	22	Jordan Davies		2:06.931
10	2	Lewis Hamilton		No Time
11	23	Pierre Gasly		2:07.942
12	27	Dave Cassidy		2:08.104
13	55	Artem Markelov		2:08.247
14	28	Daniel Melrose		2:08.828
15	90	Daniel Ricciardo		2:08.982
16	66	Pascal Wehrlein		2:09.142
17	91	Max Verstappen		2:09.146
18	67	Mike Rockenfeller		2:09.185
19	32	Alexander Albon		2:09.642
20	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		2:09.696
21	6	Santiago Urrutia		2:09.826
22	119	Felix Rosenqvist		2:10.186
23	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		2:10.207
24	31	Romain Grosjean		2:10.516
25	56	Sergey Sirotkin		2:10.449**

* demoted five places for causing an avoidable accident
** demoted five places for changing engine/gearbox

Report:

 

Achieving to score pole position, the fastest lap of the race and winning the race whilst leading every second of it  (a so-called Grand Chelem) is a rare feat in F1 and every time it is achieved, it is legendary: e.g. Jack Brabham dominating the ’57 Dutch GP, Rhys Davies’ first win in 2001 at the A1-Ring and Sebastian Vettel victimizing his rivals in Japan two years ago.

Jules Bianchi has joined that rare club, even if cynics will try to put an asterisk behind his domination because he inherited pole position from Vettel after the German two-times champion of world received the grid penalty he earned by taking out Bianchi’s teammate last race, by driving a superb race and always being the last to come into the pitlane for new tyres.

Behind him, Dean Stoneman scored his 13th consecutive point finish with second place and crawled closer to the championship leader, helped by Maldonado making a driver error and retiring from the race. Lewis Hamilton scored a valueable podium finish, beating out Ármannsson and Vettel to do so.

With only 14 out of 25 cars finishing this chaotic event, small teams had a chance to grab some points. Artem Markelov could have scored those points genuinely, but he is not angry about the help. Max Verstappen finally broke the lid and scored his first points of 2018, making up a bit for Ricciardo’s disappointing retirement.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	62	Jules Bianchi		49:44.695	15
2	30	Dean Stoneman		+13.693	12
3	2	Lewis Hamilton		+23.244	10
4	33	Einar Ármannsson		+48.090	8
5	1	Sebastian Vettel		+51.603	6
6	55	Artem Markelov		+66.746	5
7	28	Daniel Melrose		+88.411	4
8	31	Romain Grosjean		+94.746	3
9	91	Max Verstappen		+109.529	2
10	32	Alexander Albon		+110.337	1
11	67	Mike Rockenfeller		+119.620	0
12	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1 Lap	0
13	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1 Lap	0
14	56	Sergey Sirotkin		2 Laps	0
DNF	119	Felix Rosenqvist		Transmission	0
DNF	90	Daniel Ricciardo		Accident	0
DNF	29	Pastor Maldonado		Accident	0
DNF	24	Kevin Magnussen		Transmission	0
DNF	6	Santiago Urrutia		Accident	0
DNF	66	Pascal Wehrlein		Accident	0
DNF	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		Transmission	0
DNF	34	Valtteri Bottas		Accident	0
DNF	23	Pierre Gasly		Accident	0
DNF	22	Jordan Davies		Accident	0
DNF	27	Dave Cassidy		Accident	0

Fastest Lap:

Jules Bianchi – 2:07.863

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Artem Markelov – if the staff at BR Mansell still have a job at the end of the year, they can thank Artem.

Reject Of The Race:

Daniel Ricciardo – had a major chance to help Calinetic, but made bad mistakes.